For Valentine’s Day (/ my birthday), Michael and I spent the weekend in Solvang! Solvang, which means “Sunny Field,” is a town founded by a group of Danes in the Santa Ynez Valley, located just 1 hour north of downtown Santa Barbara. It’s even better than I expected it to be. I thought it would just be one strip of Danish-inspired stores, but it’s actually blocks and blocks with so much to go through! It literally is likely a transplanted European town hidden atop these beautiful rolling hills of green – absolutely magical.

Michael treated me to a food tour (my first ever) with Eat This, Shoot That! and I highly recommend! Here are some reasons why:

• First off, our tour guide (Cameron) was such a nice guy. Remember to bring cash so you can give the guide a tip!
• They bring you to all the great food spots, a range of them, so afterwards I felt no FOMO at all when it came to food! It was a great relief, because sometimes I’ll walk by restaurants and think “awh we can only try so many places” – but with the food tour, I felt so satisfied and complete!
• Solvang is very touristy so the lines can be so long – but with the food tour, you get to SKIP the lines!!
• And in addition to food, they share lots about the town history and Danish culture. I love that kind of stuff and it was nice since a lot of the museums were closed because of COVID

Here are some snaps from the food tour!

We started off with Cailloux Cheese Shop! The cheese was yummy, but the stars for me were the candied nuts and green olives!! I hate few foods, olives being one of them, but these I could appreciate!! I wanted to buy some but there was no time!

Then we went to the historic Bit O’ Denmark, which I believe is the oldest building/restaurant in Solvang! I was so excited to try authentic Danish food – so this made my so happy! This is Frikadeller – these unique, moist sweet meatballs with pickled cabbage and cucumber salads and luscious mashed potatoes!

Then we got to try the famous Danish dessert, Aebleskiver, at Solvang Restaurant! It’s like funnel cake.

Then we went to the Copenhagen Sausage Garden where we had a beer taster and sausage sampler! I LOVE sausage – we even went back for dinner hehe. Our favorite was the cheddar bacon sausage. And they have speciality mustards! Next time, I want to ask if I can buy a whole jar of 🙂

I think my dad would love this place – order him a large pitcher of beer and bunch of sausages!

Then we went to the Solvang Spice Merchant where the spices are sourced directly from the supplier. There was a discount if you are with the food tour, so I bought Flippin’ The Bird, PNW Seafood, and Adobo Lime. I already used some of the PNW Seafood (for Good Friday fish) and it was delicious!

We then enjoyed some wine tasting at Twenty Mile Winery.

And lastly, we enjoyed some coffee and danish treats (kringle!!) at the famous Olsen’s Danish Village Bakery.

If you’re looking for your next nice getaway – please consider Solvang! It’s only a few hours away from San Diego, it’s super family (and dog) friendly, and it’s right next to Santa Barbara so you can also spend a day there!

I absolutely adored Solvang and miss it already!

And if you want a discount for the food tour, use code GOODEATS10 under the “How did you hear about us?” section!

Love,
Em!